A photo posted by Official Daniel Sturridge (@dstudge) on Jan 31, 2015 at 11:13am PST

The 25-year-old had been missing for five months - 33 matches and 3,030 minutes of football in total - with thigh and calf injuries.

But he showed he had lost none of his clinical finishing skills with an angled strike, just 12 minutes after coming on, past Adrian to complete a 2-0 victory over West Ham.

He took to Instagram after and wrote: "Waaaayyyyy up I feel blessed!!! Thanks to everyone for the love and support. Great 3 points today!! Grateful to God for allowing me to score. Been a long 5 months!!"

A delicious pass from Philippe Coutinho set up Sturridge's impressive finish with boss Brendan Rodgers conceding that the assist was exactly what his returning international needed.

He said: "It's just what you want when you've been out for so long.

"He [Sturridge] just moved naturally into position, and we've missed that - that pace and that finishing. You've seen him there with 25 minutes and he could have had a couple of goals.

"His first touch was brilliant and that's what he can do. A great finish and it was nice for him to come back and get a goal.

"Daniel Sturridge is a top class player, he has shown that in his career so far. He worked very hard and the first opportunity that came his way he took."